This past Sunday, USC women’s basketball got brutal, but not stunning news when superstar Juju Watkins announced that she will miss the entire 2025-2026 season. Watkins suffered a torn ACL during a game against Mississippi State in last year’s NCAA Tournament, causing her to miss the remainder of the team’s Elite Eight run.
Obviously, being without perhaps the best player in the country for the entire season will hurt USC. But the Women of Troy still have plenty of other talented players on their roster, including Kennedy Smith, who is coming off of an excellent freshman campaign.
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So what are reasonable expectations for Lindsay Gottlieb’s team without Watkins this upcoming season. In a special women’s basketball edition of our Southern California College Football Roundtable, we discussed the topic.
Matt Zemek, Editor
“USC won’t be a great team, but it will still be a good — maybe very good — team. Lindsay Gottlieb is a phenomenal coach. Beth Burns is a terrific defensive teacher. Kennedy Smith and Jazzy Davidson are super-talented players. The transfer portal pickups aren’t superstars but could be very effective role players. USC should play great defense and become a very tough out. I think this team can compete for a No. 4 seed at the NCAA Tournament, which would give the Trojans home-court advantage in the first two rounds at the Galen Center. This team could then get back to the Sweet 16. That would be a great season without JuJu.”
Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire
“I do not think that USC is a national championship contender without Juju Watkins. But the Women of Troy still have plenty of talent to be one of the better teams in the Big Ten and make it to the NCAA Tournament.”
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Micah Huff, Trojans Wire
“Even without the best player in the country this USC women’s team will still be dominant. I don’t think they win it all, but this is a team structured well enough to have success. Jazzy Davidson will keep this team a contender.”
Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire
“USC has built a very strong program and obviously losing JuJu is a crushing blow but the Trojans should still have a winning season but their ceiling is much, much lower without Watkins. The Trojans still have talent on their roster but not the talent needed to bring home a Big Ten title or make serious noise in the NCAA Tournament.”
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Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire
“Of course the news will impact the Trojans’ season, but the question is whether or not it affects their chances at a title. The answer to that is of course it will, but although they are talented, I’m not sure they would be in the running to begin with.”
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC women’s basketball 2025-2026 season outlook without Juju Watkins
